Anonymous Asks (300)

“What does ‘I shall not want’ mean?”

This famous line from Psalm 23 has been translated many different ways, from the NIV’s “I lack nothing” to the NLT’s “I have all that I need” to the CEV’s “I will never be in need.” Most translations follow the traditional KJV rendering, if for no other reason than that generations are familiar and comfortable with it.

It should be evident this is not always true in the most literal sense that we might take it.

The author of Psalm 23 wanted Bathsheba, then he wanted not to be caught committing adultery, then he wanted the product of that adulterous relationship to live. He got the first one, though he would have been better prevented, but not the last two. The Psalms are full of David’s requests to God. Psalm 3 has David surrounded by enemies crying aloud to the Lord for help. Psalm 4 has him looking for answers to perplexing questions of life. Psalm 6 is a prayer for deliverance from death. Psalm 7 is a prayer for judgment on evildoers.

Just about every psalm David ever wrote has the great king wholly cast on God and in need of something important. “I shall not want” obviously does not mean “I will stroll independently through life having a great time” or “I will not want because I have before I even ask.” There is abundant evidence that was almost never the case.

David was a shepherd, but he was not his own shepherd. The Lord was that. He was at his best when most dependent on the Lord’s shepherd care and most reluctant to act independently to better his situation. When he writes about green pastures, still waters and the restoration of his soul, it is because he knew his Shepherd would always give him exactly what he needed in every circumstance. If “I shall not want” seems a bit aspirational to us at times, we should be comforted by the apostle Paul’s words to the effect that he had learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. He was not exactly living a cushy lifestyle, but he had discovered he was able to do everything God had called him to do, no matter how difficult or improbable, in the strength God provided.

So then, “I shall not want” presumes firstly that we ask for what we need, and secondly that we learn to be content with what we receive in response, knowing it is always for our good.